I though the Zsa Zsa character was one of the Gabor sisters.

Joey Zasa is based most on Joe Colombo. Remember that he had his "Meucci association" which was a clear reference to the Italian American Civil Rights League of Joe Colombo.

Some newspaper article I once read about him stated that he was also based on Joe Gallo.

And he's probably also based on Gotti who was the most famous gangster at the time Part III was made. Coppola and Puzo were most definitely aware of that and that may just be the reason they created someone like Zasa.

Good one ollie!

As Vincent said........."Zazaaaaaaa."

TB is right. Colombo and Gotti, for sure. And you can make a case for a little Crazy Joe, too.

The line below was lifted verbatim right out of Jerry Capeci's first Gotti bio, "Mob Star." It supposedly happened between Gotti and Michael Franzese. Just switch John Gotti for Michael Corleone. It was published in 1988, a year before they started filming "Godfather 3."

"If there is some guy running around this city saying, 'Fuck Michael Corleone,' what do we do with a piece of shit like that? He's a fucking dog."

Michael also states, "His picture is on the cover of the New York Times magazine. He gets the Esquire magazine award, for the best-dressed gangster! The newspapers praise him, because, he hires Blacks into his family, which shows he has a good heart. He, is famous. Who knows? Maybe one day, he will make all of you, popular."

Now the New York Times and Esquire references were clearly Gotti references. A Gotti drawing famously made the cover of Time magazine back in 1986. He was wearing a double breasted suit and the article mentioned his reputation as being the "best dressed gangster in Queens."

As for hiring blacks into his family, that could have easily come from one of the Gallos brothers---probably Joe, who grew tight with the black inmates while doing time for extortion.

Absolutely pizzaboy. He LOVED the cameras. Crazy Joe was known as being a "Chic" gangster for his hobnobbing with many "upper echelon" uptown types. It was Marta and Jerry Orbach who took a liking to Crazy Joe. They began introducing him around town to people like Joan Hackett, David Steinberg, etc., who in turn began inviting him to these private upscale parties thrown by the rich and famous.

I think Bob Dylan wrote a song about Crazy Joe.

Yes, it is called JOEY

Grew up over on Longfellow/Atkinson/Rosa Parks Blvd next to the Boston Edison area of Detroit........

and on rap forums, there are old rumors from people from Harlem who swear that Nicky Barnes used to do dealings with Crazy Joe, but we'll never know....


by the way, the name is ADilla Nevada, my first post on this site of course would be something about Detroit.

Welcome!
I'm a Boston-Edison man myself. Linwood/Chicago/Boston. Nice to have another Detroiter here. Hope you stick around...

No plm...weird thing was, I actually live in Detroit until I was 7 until I move to Mississippi, but I would travel back and forth every winter and summer break during every chance I got...my late grandfather was a well-known Detroit Police Detective on the radio in the 70s and 80s and was actually instrumental in quelling the riot in '67 over the radio with the "Queen". Ironically though, it was my great-uncle (his brother-in-law) across the river in Canada (Chatham) that had a huge collection of books on the mafia, and that were I first found the Godfather book at 11 years old (I was reading Lords of the Rings by 8 yrs. old lol)...I read the Godfather and haven't been the same since..would look for every Mafia book I could find ...lol.

yeah, great thread!

it got me curious about the Gallo Brothers once again but I didn't choose the most reliable source... now, is most of this really true?

and especially this?

"...a member of the Gallo group arranged for a hitman to be flown in from Las Vegas, who would be dispatched to ambush the Colombo leadership during the meeting. However, the hitman fired at the wrong table, in the process killing two innocent businessmen."

I read the link you posted and came upon this:





....nearly strangle at lounge sounds very familiar...Frankie Five Angels anybody?

I'll take Rosato Brothers coffee over Gallo Brothers wine anytime.

Thanks for keeping this topic alive.

The bar also looks like the bar in "A Bronx Tale" where the motorcycle gang got their azzes kicked.

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VtcVvt5nR8I[/video]

This topic makes me want to watch part II again, great stuff.